Yellow or Blue? In Hong Kong, Businesses Choose Political Sides

“The divide in Hong Kong society has only increased, not lessened,” Mr. Leung said.

But in November, pro-democracy candidates won a landslide victory in district council elections, the first time that Hong Kong voters had a chance to express their positions on the protests since this movement began.

The yellow economy was backed up by the ballot box.

“There’s a perception that Hong Kong businesspeople are not sympathetic to the protests, but look at the silent majority that spoke in large peaceful marches or in the district council elections,” said Todd Darling, an American restaurateur who has lived in Hong Kong for 16 years.

As the protests gathered force last year, Rocky Siu watched as an orderly column of demonstrators, miles long, marched past one of his ramen restaurants. When the police cracked down, he opened his doors, offering half-price bowls of noodles and free saline solution to wash the tear gas from protesters’ eyes.

“I’m losing money, but that’s not the point,” he said. “We have to support our young people.”

Mr. Siu’s father was born in China and came to Hong Kong to seek a better life. But he owns a jewelry factory on the mainland and is, as Mr. Siu puts it, “deep blue.”

“I tell him I don’t understand. You escaped China but now you’re supporting them,” Mr. Siu said. “To me, it’s not yellow or blue. It’s black and white, right and wrong.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/19/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-yellow-blue.html?emc=rss&partner=rss